Answer on Astronomy | Astrophysics Question for Patrick May

2012-07-03T09:00:20-0400

Question #11230

Approximately how many times larger is the distance to the nearest star than the distance to Pluto

Expert's answer

2012-07-03T09:01:13-0400

The distance from Earth to Pluto is approximately 28.6 AU. That is 28.6 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun (the Sun is the nearest star to the Earth). This number of course varies based on the location of the two bodies in their orbits. The distance from Eart to the nearest stellar neighbor (Proxima Centauri) is 4.22 light years away. Since 1 light year equals approximately 63,239.73 AU this would put Proxima Centauri approximately 9331 times farther away from Earth than Pluto.